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1/15/14

Review REAL DOGS DON'T WHISPER by KELLY PRESTON

Real Dogs Don't Whisper

The award winning book, Real Dogs Don’t Whisper highlights my life journey caring for four special needs dogs and the life lessons they taught me along the way. The overall message within Real Dogs Don’t Whisper is about giving those with special needs a second chance. The book touches on integrity, unconditional love, leadership, trust, stopping abuse and opening your heart to receive and give both unconditional love and friendship. To lighten the message, I developed a co-author, Mr MaGoo; Mr MaGoo is my Lhasa Apso and he is larger than life. He adds humor within the book; sharing with the reader how life is so tough for him being the only male in the house and living with a crazy lady, me.

Mr. MaGoo is a nine-year-old Lhasa Apso and the book’s co-creator and co-writer. He is, in his own words, “the alpha and omega of all dogs – in the cutest and sparkiest, most fun-loving package ever.” Ignoring Kelly’s persistent eye-rolling, Mr. MaGoo has forged ahead with this project in an attempt to, as he puts it, “present the facts from a dog’s perspective. In other words, the correct, most accurate, most interesting, only-one-that-matters perspective,” to which he adds, simply, “Woof!”

About Kelly Preston

Kelly Preston is, first and foremost, an animal lover. Raised on a ten-acre property in a small town in Pennsylvania, she grew up with horses, rabbits, and – of course – dogs. When she left home after college, she acquired Gizmo, an irresistible Lhasa Apso that started her on a journey full of joys and sorrows, hopes and tribulations, frustrations, endless lessons in patience, and above all else, love. All of this has come at the hands (more precisely the paws) of Gizmo, Betty Boop, Buffy, Carla Mae, and the inimitable Mr. MaGoo.

Read the Excerpt

It was at that very moment I realized Carla Mae was not just an angry, aggressive little cuss I taught to play, dance, and cut loose. I saw Carla Mae for the first time, as she really was— a scared puppy who learned to mistrust those around her and who learned self-preservation the only way she knew how — by biting first and asking questions later. She was a frightened little dog who eventually found a greater lesson in letting go and learning to laugh and play and yes, of course—dance. Carla Mae, found unconditional love in our family and along the way, she learned to trust. Anyway, as for Dim-Bulb King, cooler heads prevailed that day and, lucky for him, his human finally dragged him away from us. But I sure learned something about my new sister that day.

Carla Mae turned out to be a competitive little tomboy and fair adversary. We love to play Kibble Attack—a game that involves her patiently planning preemptive Kibble invasions, only to be taken off guard by a MaGoo surprise maneuver, overrun and forever a close second only to me. She’s quite the copycat as well, often mimicking our moves. I’m not sure if she’s mocking us all, doing the “when in Rome thing”, or a little of both. What I do know is that I have learned to love Carla Mae and Carla Mae has learned to accept love and even try to nudge in on my petting time with the human and even with random human strangers in the house. She is loved and cared for and Carla Mae is no longer afraid... well, maybe a little afraid of King Crazy Dog, but who wouldn’t be? Other than me, of course.

Kelly Preston has done what a lot of authors writing about dogs would like to do; she incorporates her dog as a believable first-person character. Mr. Magoo, her Lhaso Apso. Mr MaGoo is quite a character blending a bit of fiction in with this memoir of how Preston rescued one dog, which leads to one more and then five. You can understand exactly why she does it and anyone with a dog will easily relate to how these pups each have their own personality. My mom rescued dachshunds for most of her life and most of those dogs were neglected and probably abused. Preston seems to have that special gift that lets dogs be their best.

All of these dogs come with baggage and at times I was almost brought to tears that people could be so cruel and mistreat these dogs. I wish there were more people like Preston and the fact that she took the time to write about how rewarding it can be to take in a dog that most would turn down gives you faith that humanity is not all bad. The pictures of her pups through out the book makes them really come to life. She also has a way with words that will keep your interest and this is one of the best independent releases I have read in a long time. Check out her kid's book, Mr Spunky and Friends.